Railway mail-exchange apparatus.



Patented Oct. 16, 191K 2 SHEETS-SHEETI APPLICATION FILED FEB, 26, 1915.

A HUPP RAILWAY MAIL EXCHANGE APPARATUS.

A. 'HUPP'.

APPLICATION FILED rsze, 191's.

' Patented 00. 16,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

eras anner eer e.

ALBERT HUPP, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO HUPP AUTO- MATIC MAIL EXCHANGE COIVIPANY, OE G N, DISTRICT OF GOLUMB1A,.A

GORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

RAILWAY MAIL-EXCHANGE APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

Application filed February 26, 1915. Serial No. 10,748.

To all whom it may concern:

zen of the United States,and a resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Mail-Exchange Apparatus, of which the following is a description.

This invention relates to mail exchange apparatus and more particularly to mechanism for automatically delivering mail bags from a car.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanism of this character which will be capable of handling a large number of mail bags at one time and which will be simple and reliable in operation.

Other objects and the features of novelty will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a transverse section through a mail car having my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the delivery mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation ofthe lower part of one of the delivery chutes, a I

part of the side wall being broken away to disclose other parts;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a detail of the latching mechanism for the delivery chute bottom.

Referring to the drawings 10 indicates the body of a mail car. which is provided with the opposite doorways 11 and 12.

1 Tracks 13 and 14 extend across the interior of the car and are secured to the sides thereof by means of suitable brackets 15. The tracks 13 and 14 are also additionally supported by posts 16 which carry cross members 17, these cross members being secured tothe upper sides of the tracks. A delivery chute 19 is provided with the supporting arms 20 extending rearwardly and" arms having rollers 21 which also engage Be it known that I, ALBERT HUPP, a cit1- the tracks 18 and 1e and support the chute. From F 1g. 2 is will be seen that the rollers 21 are on the opposite sides of the tracks 13 and let from the rollers 2% so that the chutes 1 are formed with two spaced plates 29 and 30, as shown in Fig. i, and the arms 27 are arranged between these plates and concealed thereby. In Fig. 1 chute 19 is shown in the normal inoperative position on the inside of the car while the chute 22 is shown in full lines. in the operative position for delivery of mail'bags. The chute 22 is also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, within the car. The operating mechanism for the chutes 19 and 22 are identical and since the mechanism for the chute 22 is illustrated in detail a description ofthe same will now be given. The chute 22 is moved to and fro by means of arms27 and links 28, as above described and the shafts 26 are rocked by means of downwardly extending arms 31 which project through the floor of the car and are connected with actuating mechanism 32. Any suitable actuating mechanism may be provided for the chutes 19 and and an example of such mechanism is illustrated in my earlier application Serial No.

771,041, filed May 81, 1913. I

The chutes 19 and 22 are provided with dumping bottoms 33, these bottoms being pivoted to the sides of the chutes at 3i and being adapted'to swing downwardly to the position shown in Fig. 1. The bottoms 33 are provided with the sidewalls 35 having secured to the upper edges thereof bars 36, thesebars cooperating with bars 37 arranged onthe walls 29 forthe purpose of limiting the downward movement of the bottoms. The bottoms 33have secured thereto quadrants 38, which are turned under the bottoms 33, as indicated at 39 and secured thereto,'and also secured to the sides 35, by suitablepins or bolts 40. The bolts 40 extend through the walls 29 of the chutes and curved slots 41 are provided in these walls to permit the movement of the pins 40 with the bottoms when the latter swing to the open position. Each of the quadrants 38 is provided with a notch a2 a nd these notches are engaged by bolts e3 'slidable in casings 5 l4: secured to the walls 29. The bolts 43 are moved to and fro into and out of engag ment with the notches 42 by means of levers 4:5 which are pivoted to the casings 44 and connected with levers 16 by means of links e7. The levers e6 arepivot-ed 2at48 tothe walls 29 and 30 and have their upper ends connected with the arms -27 by means of telescopic links. These telescopic links comprise the tubular parts-4L9 and the parts 50 which are slidable therein. The parts 50 carry a head 51 which is adapted to engage the caps on the ends of the parts 49,as ;the arm 27 approaches the positionshown in full lines at the left hand side of Fig. l. When the chute QQ-is within the car as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l the parts 49 and 50 .are relatively arranged substantially as indicated. In moving the chutes through the doorways the part 50 is drawn outof the part 49 untilthe headbl engages with the cap and then the levereti isdrawn from the dotted-line position to the full line posi tion and thus effects the withdrawal ofthe bolt from the notch Hand permits-the bottom33- to swing tothe open position.

The mail bags are piledinto the chutes while the chutes are within the car and, by having the chutes relatively tall,*space is provided for a large number of bags. When 35: the latches 43 are withdrawn from the notches 42, as just described,;the weight'of -the'mail bags will cause the bo'ttoms'33 to drop with considerable force and in order to cushion the bottoms at the end of their Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

l.-In apparatus of the classdescribed,

the combinationof a car, an elevatedt-rack therein,- aidelivery chute suspended therefrom, and means under the floor-of the car operatively connected with said chute for Y moving thesame to and froon said track.

2. in apparatus of the :class' described, fthe combination of a-cargan elevated'track 5 extending transversely Y of the 1 car in line withadoor thereof, a delivery chute having rearwardly extending arms thIQtlgllwWlllCl'l it is suspended from said track, and means under the floor ot' the car operatlvely connected withsaid chutefor moving the same a pair of delivery chutes suspended from said track and independently movable thereon, and independent devices under the "floor of the car operatively connected with said chutestor moving theesame.

4. 111 app; ratus of the class described,

the combination of wear -an elevatedtrack secured EO OPPOSlhQSlClQS of thecar in line with doors in the sides ofthe Ganja/pair of delivery chutes having' rearwardly extend- L ing arms through which the chutesare sus" -pended onsaid't-rack, said arms'permitting the chutes to be @projected through :said r doors, and means under the floor: of the car operatively connected with-said chutes for moving the-isameto and fro on said: track. 5. In apparatus ofthe class described,

the combination of an elevated track, a delivery chute suspended on-said track, a shaft supported below said chute, 0ne 0rm0re :-&I'1T1S,"Ol1 saidv shaft, operatively connected with saidehute so as to move the latterto and fro when the shaft isrc-cked; and meansv asto move the latter'toand fro whenthe *shaft, is rocked, and means ;below-the car floor whereby said shaft-i-s-rocked.

7. Inapparatusof the class described, thecombination of an elevated traclga delivery chute suspendedcn said track and provided wlth {bPlVOtQCl dumping bottom, means for latching said bottom in closed position,

means for moving said -chute;on said track,

. and-means tor automatically releasing said latching; means at a predetermined positron of said moving means.

8.-In apparatus of the class described,

the combination of an elevated track, a delivery chute suspended on saidtraclr and provided with a pivoted dumping bottom,

means for latching said bottomdn closed 1 position, ashaft supported below saidchute,

arms on said shaft .operatively connected with said chute to 'movethe latter :onsaid "track, and mefans,- actuated; by one 'of said arms, to release said latch ng means.

9.;Incombination with a car having a door, a chute foridehvermg mail,-movable to "and fro through the door, ashaft arirranged adjacent wthe door, a ;-plurality of arms onsaid shaft, means connecting said arms with* oppnsite'sides' or the chute, means for rocking said shaft, a hinged bottom on said chute, and means whereby said bottom is permitted to swing downwardly inclependently of the chute when the latter reaches a predetermined point in its outward movement.

10. In combination with a car having a door, a chute, for delivering mail, movable to and fro through said door, means for supporting the chute adapted to prevent the same from tilting when projected from the car, a bottom hinged to the chute, a latch device for normally holding the bottom in closed position, automatically operated means for releasing said latch device, and means for closing the bottom when the chute is moved into the car.

11. In combination with a car having a door, a shaft arranged adjacent the door and having arms thereon, a chute arranged between said arms and operatively connected therewith to be moved to and fro by rocking said shaft, a bottom hinged to the chute, a latch device for normally holding the bottom in closed position, and means connected with one of said arms and said latch device and adapted to automatically release the latch when the chute reaches a predetermined point in its outward movement.

12. In combination with a car having a door, a delivery chute, a shaft arranged adjacent the door, an arm arranged on said shaft and operatively connected with the chute to move the same to and fro when the shaft is rocked, a bottom hinged to the chute, a latch device for normally holding the bottom in closed position, and a telescopic rod connected with said latch device and said arm and adapted to release the latch when the chute reaches a predetermined point in its outward movement.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT HUPP.

Witnesses B. M. KENT, ARTHUR L. BRYANT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

